Hard Work

Everything that you want to be successful in your life requires hard work.  If you want a great education, it takes hard work.  If you want a successful career, it takes hard work.  If you want a successful marriage, it takes hard work.  If you want to raise smart, respectful, confident children, it takes hard work. If you want that amazing body you dream about it takes hard work.  

I can't think of one meaningful thing that could just be handed to you as you sit there on the couch doing nothing.  Yes, there are some people who are born into money and inherit companies and great lifestyles.  But all that will disappear if you don't work to keep it.  Think of all the famous people that you have heard of going bankrupt.  This of all the rich children that you can't stop reading about in the gossip columns.   

This is why so many people do not have everything they hoped for.  Those people sit there on that couch waiting for good things to happen to them.  They wait for that big mysterious check to show up in the mail, or for the bank to make an error and now there rich.  Or they go to work everyday and just do the basic requirements and wonder why they do not get that big promotion or raise.  Or you have the people who walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes to get off and eat a 1200 calorie dinner and wonder why they are not loosing the weight they are hoping for.  

It's because you have to put in the work.  You have to step outside of your comfort zone and chase down that dream you are looking for.  Why waste another day waiting for it to happen to you?  Go out there and get it now.  Make the decision that you are going to take back your life.  You are going to go out there and work for what you deserve, fight to get the things your heart desires.  Stop making excuses and saying amazing things don't happen to people like you, and make them happen.  

I am 29 years old, I fell into a rut waiting for my good luck to come along, and bad thing after bad thing kept happening to me.  I woke up one day and said I'm fed up.  I have had enough of this type of life.  I know what I deserve.  I know what I am capable of  and I know what kind of life I want my children to have. So I am going to work my tail off to make it happen.  I am looking at the bright skies.  I gave up the excuses and the negative thoughts.  I don't have time for those things in my life, they just hold you back.  I wake up every morning knowing how lucky I am to be here and have my family.  I know that I am powerful enough to make things happen in my life, and I am going to do it.  

  

Shannon           

Priorities

I am reading a book called PUSH by Chalene Johnson.  She is the trainer of TurboFire and TurboJam, and she is a great inspirational/motivational speaker.  So the beginning of the book is a 30 day Challenge to help you get your priorities in order and become better organized.  I am only on day 4 so I still have a ways to go, but it has really got me thinking.

You have to come up with your top Life Priorities and go into detail about your number one priority.  It was easy for me to decide that my family was my number one priority and that I wanted the best for my kids and husband.  Going into the details took a little bit more work.  However, I finally got it done.

Now I look at my life as it is today and know that I have a lot of work to do.  I mean I thought I did what is necessary to keep them happy and provide for them.  But after looking at the details of my priority that is just the minimal.  I need to find the time to actually be more involved instead of just being present. I mean I get up and take the train an hour to work in the morning, work all day, take the train an hour back to my home town, drive 15 minutes to pick up my oldest, drive home, start prepping dinner(that is if I don't have to actually run to the store or do some other errand,) exercise for about an hour, finish off dinner, and we are looking at 7-8 at night already.  REALLY??? Come on! I just finally sat down to relax. Then there are the 100 other little things that need to be done before we all get to bed, plus trying to devote time to my business.  This is why I am lucky to make it bed by 11:30pm.  My schedule feels non stop but when I step back and look at it, did I really do anything to improve my number one priority.

Let's see:

I didn't get a chance to actually sit down and play with my kids.

I had a 20 minute car ride to talk about each of there days.

I only had 5 minutes to look through JJ's backpack and try to get him to talk about what he did today at school.

It only took 3 minutes for him to read his baggy book to me.

Story time and tucking into bed, took 15 minutes.

See I only devoted 43 minutes of my direct attention to my kids, if you could call talking while driving direct attention.  With little small talk conversations or little hugs and kisses mixed in throughout the day or short conversations while I am cooking we can round it up to 60 minutes.  So my kids barely get an hour from me???  That's not the mom I want to be.  So I need to change some things up.  I need to change my schedule.

Sometimes we get so sucked into all the things we believe that need to be done, now, now, nowwwww. But we are neglecting the true reasons we are doing any of those things in the first place.  Our families.

This is the beginning of my mission to change things around.  I will be actively involved in my families life.  The gears are spinning and hopefully leading me to a new path of less stress and more happiness.

We will see how I make this happen.......

Shannon